I'm about to cosplay the character named "Shellcase",
from DC Comics / Batman series.
He's a villain, marksman, close combat expert, and his favorites weapons are a pair of automatic guns.

Here's my problem : since English is not my mother tongue, I don't understand the signification of his name. Could you explain it to me ?
"Shell" may refer to bombshell, "case" to suitcase, so it would be a kind of nickname, "suitcase full of bombshell", "full ammo", etc ...
I imagine it's a pun, a wordplay, but I don't have a clue ...

Return the favor : if you have any French expression to be explained, I'd be glad trying to help you.

Thanks, Sushispitz2.

dizzymonochrome

08-27-2012, 08:16 AM

Without knowing the character at all (I'm a Marvel fan), I'd assume 'shell' would refer to bullet shells or shotgun shells, and same with 'case', as you can also call them bullet casings.

erayachi

08-27-2012, 09:32 AM

Indeed, as Dizzy said. A shell casing is the part of a bullet (like a shotgun round) that is...well, a shell, that holds the primer and the propellant--the firing pin of a gun strikes the end of the shell, propels the bullet, and leaves the shell casing empty.

If you watch movies, and see all those little metal tubes flying out of machine guns and shotgun...those are the leftover, empty shell casings.

mokulen22

08-27-2012, 09:33 AM

I agree with Dizzy. I think it is a play on words meaning the casing from a bullet.

SUSHISPITZ2

08-27-2012, 02:02 PM

Thank you all ! (and thanks for moving this thread in the proper section)

You must be right about the signification of his name : most of the other members of his team are named in the same way regarding their weapons (Seven Men of Death : Whip, Detonator, Razorbum, Hook, ...).